Rolando Villazón

Biography

Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón made his Royal Opera debut in 2004 as Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) and has since sung Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto), Rodolfo (La bohème), Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Don Carlo, Werther and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) for the Company. In summer 2015 he sings Don ottavio on The Royal Opera’s tour to Japan and in the 2015/16 Season he returns to sing Alfredo (La traviata).

Villazón was born in Mexico City and studied at the conservatory there. In 1999 he won second prize, the Zarzuela Prize and the Audience Prize in Operalia. He sings regularly for Berlin State Opera, where his roles have included Des Grieux (Manon), Don José (Carmen), Alfredo Germont (La traviata), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) and Lensky, and for Bavarian State Opera, where his roles have included Faust, Alfredo, Rodolfo, Roméo (Roméo et Juliette) and Hoffmann. He also sings for opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Liceu, Barcelona, Vienna State Opera and La Scala, Milan. He appears regularly in concert worldwide, and has given recitals at the Salzburg Festival and Vienna Musikverein, among others. He is an exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon.

Villazón has directed Werther for Opéra de Lyon and L’elisir d’amore in Baden-Baden. He was a mentor and juror for the UK’s ‘Pop Star to Opera Star’, and presents the programme ‘Stars von morgen’ for French and German television. He is an ambassador for the Red Noses Clown Doctors. His debut novel Malabares was published in 2013. He is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.